Clip for retaining and/or holding together sheets of paper or other materials

Abstract: Clip for holding together sheets of paper or other materials, or for placing on other articles of different kinds, comprising two clampingp legs (1, 2) made of sheet material which are movable resiliently relative to each other, and the two end edges (12, 13) of which cross each other at an angle and when in use form push-on edges with at least a part of their length, which edges define a substantially inverted V-shaped push-on space in accordance with an earlier patent application. At the position (14) where the two push-on edges (12, 13) cross each other, a space (15) is created between the legs (1, 2) as a result of the fact that at least one of the clip legs is provided with a non-angular depression (19).

Description: The invention relates to a clip made of sheet material for retaining and/or holding together sheets of paper or other materials, or for placing on other articles of different kinds, comprising two clamping legs lying in substantially parallel planes and movable resiliently relative to each other, the two end edges of which cross each other at an angle and when in use form push-on edges and define a substantially inverted V-shaped push-on space. Such a clip forms the subject of European Patent Application 92202354.4 (publication nr. 0 525 909) which falls under Article 54(3)EPC. More particularly this elder patent application discloses such a clip which comprises two clamping legs made of sheet material which lie substantially in parallel planes and are movable resiliently relative to each other, and the two end edges of which cross each other at an angle and when in use form push-on edges with at least a part of their length, which edges define a substantially reverse V-shaped push-on space, at least one of said clamping legs having a fold line such that this clamping leg has an upper portion adjoining the connecting zone to the other leg, a central portion near the fold line and a lower portion ending at the end edge, the upper portion adjoining the connecting zone lying at a distance from the upper portion of said other leg, and the lower portion ending at the end-edge rests resiliently with at least a part of its inside substantially flat against the inside of a lower portion of the other clamping leg, while the fold line in at least the one leg is realized such that the lower portions of the legs lie one against the other under a bias force, both legs at substantially equal distances from the connecting zone terminating in a single point, and being flat in the proximity of their end edges which, in use, constitute the push-on edges, while the two legs at their connecting zone also form a small acute angle and the upper portion adjoining the connecting zone and the central portion near the fold line of said one leg form an obtuse angle of at least 145° at the fold line. This clip has a large number of advantages over known clips, and in particular clips for paper. The main advantages are that virtually all positive features of the staple and the known paper clip made of steel wire are combined, while all disadvantages of these two fasteners are eliminated. It has a much greater clamping force than all known clips, due to the fact that it has a broad, flat clipping area between the two clamping legs which, as a result of the bias force resulting from the way in which the clip is bent, will remain flat up to a much greater thickness of the clipped sheets than is the case with other clips. Partly as a result of this, the increase in the thickness of the clipped pile, which becomes a nuisance when several piles clipped together are laid on top of one another, is very limited. In use, it does not cause damage to the material on which it is being used. The clip is also easy to print, so that it can be used as a carrier of advertising messages. Moreover, it is naturally easy to slide into position. This ease of sliding is improved even further if, as described in the older patent application, the push-on edges are rounded. The die-cutting can be carried out in such a way that this rounding occurs automatically. It is in the field of this ease of push-on that the present invention intends to make a further improvement. To this end, the clip according to the invention is characterized in that at the position where the two push-on edges cross each other a space is created between the legs, as a result of the fact that at least one of the clamping legs is provided with a non-angular depression. This space can be used at the start of pushing of the clip onto the pile to be clipped. Said pile will then start to move in between the clamping legs without any friction. On continuation of this pushing-on or sliding movement, there is then in particular no risk of any damage to the edge of the paper. If the pile is small compared with the pile thickness corresponding to the maximum capacity of the clip, the push-on movement can even start while the clip is being held virtually in the same plane as the pile onto which it is to be pushed. In the case of greater pile thicknesses, coming closer to the capacity of the clip, it is desirable to turn the clip through a small angle at the start of the push-on movement, so that one point lies at the back and the other at the front of the pile, while said angle will disappear again by itself as the clip is pushed further onto the pile. The idea of the invention is most effective if a line of symmetry extends from the depression in one clamping leg in the direction of the push-on edge of the other clamping leg. Since the depression according to the invention inevitably leads to a decrease in the overall clamping surface of the two legs, it is advantageous if said decrease is limited. This is achieved in an embodiment which is characterized in that the depression extends in the direction of the push-on edge of the other clamping leg, to a point at no more than half the distance between the push-on edge in which the depression has been provided and the point where the extension of the other push-on edge reaches the side edge of the clip. Otherwise, it is sufficient for only one depression to be provided in the clamping leg in which, as with the prior clip, the fold line is provided. This is the leg which in practice is indicated as the rear leg, because the other leg, in which no fold line or bend at all is then present, will accommodate at least the major part of a printed message. The depression according to the present invention and said printing thus do not impede one another. The invention will be explained below with reference to the appended drawing of a preferred embodiment. Fig. 1 shows the clip in a view looking towards the clamping leg in which the fold line is provided. Fig. 2 shows a side view in the direction of the arrow II in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows an end view at the side of the push-on edges, according to the arrow III in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows a view according to the arrow IV in Fig. 1 solely in the direction of the push-on edge of the clamping leg in which the fold line is provided. Fig. 5 serves to illustrate the shape of the depression according to the invention in the preferred embodiment shown. For the sake of simplicity, the same reference numbers are used in the figures as those found in Dutch Patent Application 9101313, European patent Application 92202354.4, and the corresponding patent applications in other countries. Figs. 1 and 2 thus show a clip which is intended in particular for holding together sheets of paper, comprising two clamping legs 1 and 2 made of sheet material, which are movable resiliently relative to each other. The end edges 12, 13 of the clamping legs cross each other at an angle which in the preferred embodiment shown is a right angle, and in use said end edges 12 and 13 form push-on edges which define a substantially V-shaped push-on space. The legs 1 and 2 are connected to each other at the place with a rounded connecting zone 3, in such a way that the part 4 of the clamping leg 2 directly adjacent thereto lies at a distance from the part 10 of clamping leg 1 adjacent to the connecting zone 3. In this way space is formed for the sheets onto which the clip is to be pushed. The parts 4 and 10 form an acute angle between them. In leg 2, a fold line is also provided at position 5, in such a way that an obtuse angle is produced between the part 4 and the part 6 of leg 2 at the other side of said fold line, which obtuse angle is at least 145°, and preferably lies between 145° and 160°. This fold line and the abovementioned selection of the obtuse angle ensure that the remaining part 8 of the leg 2 from the point indicated by 7 onwards up to end edge 13 will lie substantially flat against the inside of the other part 9 of clamping leg 1, as a result of the bias-force arising as a result of bending according to the abovementioned angle value. For a good understanding of the present invention, a reference plane or zero plane is indicated by 0 in the drawings. This is the contact face of the parts 8 and 9 of the two clamping legs, where they touch each other flatly, thus from the point indicated by 7 in Fig. 2 up to the end edges. According to the invention, at the position of the crossing point 14 (see Fig. 1) of the two end edges or push-on edges 12, 13, a space 15 (see Fig. 3) is created between said push-on edges, in order to facilitate pushing of the clip onto the pile. The height of said space - height defined as the dimension in the direction at right angles to the plane of the clamping legs 1, 2 - is preferably once the thickness of the sheet material from which the clip is made. The space is produced by providing at least one of the legs - leg 2 in the embodiment shown and described - with a non-angular depression. For the description of the shape of this depression, reference should first be made to the auxiliary figure 5. This figure shows schematically the shape of an element in the sheet working tool which is used for making the depression. Here we see a part of a circumferential face 16 of a circular cylinder whose axis (not shown) forms a small angle with the plane of the undeformed material, with the result that the part of the circular cylinder projecting beyond said plane decreases in height from the end 17 to the point 18. For the sake of clarity, Fig. 5 shows the width and the height of the element enlarged in relation to the dimensions in the other figures, while the radius of curvature of the cylinder is in fact greatly reduced. In reality, the radius of curvature of the imaginary cylinder is very great: at least a multiple of, for example, the width measurement of the clip; in an actual embodiment of the clip a radius of curvature which is approximately nine times the width of the clip is used. The width of the depression at the position of the end edge 13 is shown in Fig. 4, indicated by b. In the embodiment shown, this width is approximately 20% of the width of the clip. The depression according to the invention is thus produced in the triangular region indicated by 19 in Fig. 1. It is important to keep this region relatively small, in so far as the depression reduces the contact face of the clamping legs, while one of the advantages of the original clip lies in the fact that the full contact face always remains, even when it is placed on relatively thick piles of paper. If the region 19 is limited in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the decrease in the surface of the contact face is small and, above all, hardly perceptible to the eye of the ordinary user. The yardstick applied can be that the end point 20 of the deformed region 19 lies at a position which is one third to at most half the distance between the point 14 where the push-on edges 12 and 13 cross each other and the side edge 21 of the clip at the place where the extension of the push-on edge 12 reaches said side edge. Otherwise, if it is considered important, the decrease in the contact surface can easily be compensated for by a very slight increase in the length measurement of the clip. It is also pointed out that the deformation over the region with width b, while the sheet material of the clamping leg 2 lying outside that remains undeformed, in the view towards the push-on edge 13 - in Fig. 4 the view directly towards the push-on edge 13, thus at 45° relative to the lengthwise direction of the clip, and in Fig. 3 directly towards the clip and at 45° relative to the direction of the push-on edge 13 - leads to a space with a width which is much greater than the width b of the actually deformed region. This is, of course, due to the fact that the sheets rest against each other at the points arising from the shaping. Therefore, it can be seen in Fig. 4 that the leg 2 on the right, at point 22 where it is still resting against leg 1, remains on the zero line, while on the left near point 23, which is free from contact with the leg 1, it passes through the zero plane as a result of the deformation within the zone b. Of course, the same can be seen also in Fig. 3. The idea of the invention can also be applied to any clip made of sheet material with push-on edges defining a V-shaped push-on space.

Claims: Clip made of sheet material for retaining and/or holding together sheets of paper or other materials, or for placing on other articles of different kinds, comprising two clamping legs (1, 2) lying in substantially parallel planes and movable resiliently relative to each other, the two end edges (12, 13) of which cross each other (at 14) at an angle and when in use form push-on edges and define a substantially inverted V-shaped push-on space, characterized in that at the position (14) where the two push-on edges (12, 13) cross each other a space (15) is created between the clamping legs (1, 2) as a result of the fact that at least one of the clamping legs is provided with a non-angular depression (19). Clip according to claim 1, characterized in that a line of symmetry extends from the depression (19) in one clamping leg according to the direction of the push-on edge (12) of the other clamping leg (1). Clip according to claim 2, characterized in that the depression (19) extends, according to the direction of the push-on edge (12) of the other clamping leg (1), to a point (20) at no more than half the distance between the push-on edge (13) in which the depression (19) has been provided and the point where the extension of the other push-on edge (12) reaches the side edge (21) of the clip. Clip according to any of the preceding claims provided with a fold line (5) in one of the clamping legs (1, 2) thereof, characterized in that a depression (19) is only provided in the clamping leg (2) in which the fold line (5) is provided. Clip according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the depression (19) is formed along a part (16) of the circumferential face of a circular cylinder whose axis forms a small angle with the plane of the undeformed material, and having a radius of curvature (R) which is a multiple of the width of the clip. Clip according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the space (15) created between the clamping legs by the depression at the position (14) of the crossing point of the end edges (12, 13) has a height which is substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet material.

Inventors: VAN ARDENNE-VAN RHIJN JOHANNA, VAN ARDENNE-VAN RHIJN, JOHANNA LAMBERTA MARIA
Applicants: MULTIBRIDGE BV, MULTIBRIDGE B.V.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B42F1
IPC codes: F16B2, B42F1